I spent Thursday evening underneath the car trying to fit a new fuel return pipe as the old one is badly corroded. Perhaps I should have thought things through a bit better and not tanked the motor the evening before , but I honestly thought there'd be a one way valve on a return pipe. Anyway, after getting soaked in D (not even SVO - would have been better), I had the new pipe on the inlet and was ready to connect it to the rubberised hose from the pump. Guess what? - it's two inches too short. No way the two would marry up safely. So, as the BoL says, "refitting is the reversal of removal" except in this case - with the same flipping pipe. In any event, the original is not as badly corroded as I thought and will last while I source some fuel hose.

So that was Thursday. On Saturday SWMBO and I were returning from a barbie when the slight power problem I had been noticing all week became a lot worse, just as we were leaving the M2. In fact I had no power whatsoever and was just able to freewheel to relative safety. My bad habits of relying on the car's torque and not changing gear frequently enough have come home to roost, and I've finished off the clutch. Well, I can't complain (although I probably will). I couldn't find a receipt for a replacement in the SH, so that implies that the clutch has done 172k miles. Does this sound possible? Now I bought this car as a project and a learning experience, and one thing I've learned is that there's no way I am attempting a clutch change on asle stands at the weekend when I need the car in 2 weeks for a holiday, so I'll be getting quotes today

Then yesterday, SWMBO washed my diesel-soaked overalls and t-shirt with a set of bedclothes.....

Oh and the gas lighter for the stove broke, a month after I bought it, so SWMBO is back to trying to light the gas by standing 6 feet away from it with her eyes closed and waving a match at it....

But other than that, it was a nice weekend

Oscar

EDIT: 23 August 05. I've edited this cause I don't want this to be a swearing type of forum. That's better, isn't it?

Last edited by Oscar on Tue Aug 23, 2005 11:41 am, edited 2 times in total.

Vanny wrote:and there relatively easy to fit yoru self! I seem to take no more than 6 hours now, but i've done it in three before now!
Is this true, 3 hours for as clutch on a tubro bx, you're a better man than I gungadin

The pipe problem is strange, my last set where over 2" too long! infact there still too long and i get an advisory on every MOT because im too lazy to do anything about it

Actually I'd love to do it, but weighing it up with everything else, expediency wins out over learning+money. Shame really, but then on the other hand I'm supporting a local independent, so there is a silver lining.

ken newbold wrote:
Is this true, 3 hours for as clutch on a tubro bx, you're a better man than I gungadin

it was an Mi16, and like the third time i'd done it in a week! Old race car, and it had certain things 'modified' to make it easier, well i say modified, the accumulator, PR and FD where all in the scuttle!

And that, dear friends, is a rough outline of my mental state yesterday evening after my mate John (you know him - Honest John) ripped the towing point off the front of the BX in the last 100 yards to the garage. Well, it may not be the towing point, but it was all I could see to attach the towrope to - there's two of them, either side of the subframe, and he bent the first one last Saturday towing us home, causing the bumper to pop off, foglight to pop out and indicator glass to fly away. That's no big deal. But tearing the other one off completely....he says he speeded up to get up the slight incline, but I think he just went around the corner and forgot he was towing, he's a bit like that.

Still, trying to keep it in proper perspective: he's a mate, he was doing me a favour, it's only a car, there are plenty more available. I wish he'd said "Oh shit, Oscar, sorry!" instead of "I've towed hundreds of cars and never seen that, I had to speed up to take the incline etc.etc".

At the moment, I'm waiting for a call from the garage. After they've stopped laughing........

thats an out rigger not the tow point! And yes i have very bent ones at the rear!

on the plus side they themselves arent structural, i've only ever found a proper use for them as tie down points when on a trailer. there is only one tow point on th eN/S of the car on my 16v its just to the right of the fog light looking from the front of the car

i did a clutch last week (thursday) and the clutch cost £40 (on a 405 1.7td), only problem was i lost my magic stick and took a day to find it so job ended up at 6 hours over two days! I had refused to do any more jobs on the badly designed 405, but guess what i've been doing the last two days? a timing belt on another one!

I had no idea what a difference a new clutch and arm would make - shows my lack of experience I suppose. The change is smooth, predictable, reliable, bite point is so low down that I stalled the first couple of times as i was used to lifting my foot much further and faster. Car feels like new.

gradually coming good, and although it's kicked a hole in my finances, it's money well spent in the longterm for the BX's longevity. I'll sort the steering out and soundproof the cabin and we can drive off into the sunset. (well, Snowdon actually - SWMBO and I are going camping in the last known campsite that allows open fires. Chances of getting one lit in the p*ssing rain are pretty minimal I think, but the lure of a campfire...)

I drove Tom's TZD with newly-fitted clutch weekend and could hardly believe it as my foot slid almost effortlessley to the floor. Had to check there was definitely a pedal there! Makes the aggro of this job (seen, but not truly experienced) worthwile.